Formula 1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez sampled an Australian Supercar for the first time at Albert Park on Thursday.
Tickford Racing and Alpine both have partnerships with Castrol, hence the opportunity for Alonso to drive a Tickford Racing Ford Mustang with regular driver Thomas Randle in the passenger seat offering gear-selection advice.
Alonso’s race engineer, Karel Loos, then had a ride in the passenger seat, with Alonso relishing his first experience of this type of car – visibly attempting to explore the limits of its performance despite having few laps.
“It’s between a GT3 and a NASCAR,” Alonso told the official Supercars Championship website.
“It’s heavier and softer on the corners, but then you feel the power, the V8… the noise is amazing.
“It’s good fun [to drive], because the cars are very similar to each other on the grid.
“They are only separated by one second and with 25 cars, that’s amazing.”
Alonso was set to try out a 2011-vintage Holden Commodore owned by McLaren CEO Zak Brown at the Aragon circuit in late 2017, only for a lack of fuel to prevent it.
He has shown an eagerness to turn his hand to a wide range of categories in recent times, twice starting the Indianapolis 500, winning the World Endurance Championship and two Le Mans 24 Hours for Toyota and contesting the Dakar Rally among other outings.
Competing in the legendary Bathurst 1000 is known to appeal to him and there were suggestions that a possible entry was being worked on for 2020, but came to nothing.
While his current focus is on F1 meaning he doesn’t have time for other racing projects – besides which, the Bathurst 1000 in October clashes with the Japanese GP – Alonso didn’t rule out the possibility of one day taking on ‘The Great Race’.
“Who knows, there are a couple of amazing races here, Bathurst being the most popular one,” said Alonso.
“It’s not in the short-term plan, but you never say never.”
Volume 🆙 A @SChecoPerez symphony with @RedBullAmpol 🎶 pic.twitter.com/8IjovcjIt5
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 7, 2022
Red Bull driver Perez also drove a Supercar, getting behind the wheel of the Triple Eight Holden Commodore usually raced by Broc Feeney.
Triple Eight is now in its 10th year running with Red Bull sponsorship, running under the Red Bull Ampol Racing name since the start of 2021.
“The braking was the biggest challenge,” said Perez.
“The braking efficiency, coordinating the corners is quite different.
“But it’s really good fun; the amount of kerb you’re able to take, you’re limited with that in F1.
Four Supercars races at Albert Park this weekend, with free practice and the first two qualifying sessions held on Thursday.
Ford drivers David Reynolds and Will Davison secured the pole positions in today’s sessions, with the former starting Friday’s race from the front.
